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A review by amethystarchild
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
4.0
“The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks” is a contemporary young adult novel, with strong themes of feminism. Frankie is attending a prestigious prep school, and has finally blossomed into a beautiful sophomore girl. She attracts the attention of a handsome senior Matthew, and they start dating. She discovers that there is an all-male secret society on campus that pulls pranks. Angry and envious of her boyfriend’s brotherhood in the organization, and sick of being suppressed by her family and friends into hiding her intelligence, she hatches a scheme. She tricks the members of the society into following her orders by posing as their leader through emails. She creates elaborate pranks that make social statement, and coerces the administration into making the school a better place. When the real president gets in trouble for her misdeeds she steps forward as the culprit surprising everyone who underestimated her. She loses her boyfriend, but by the end she cares more about her own self-respect, than about the opinions of others.
Content warnings:
-Some underage drinking
-Mild swears
-Some slightly promiscuous scenarios
-Triggers: secret societies, ladies underwear, passionate kissing
My least favorite genre is Realistic fiction, so when I was assigned this book I wasn’t excited to read it, but the story telling style, and the main character Frankie were really interesting and fun. As a woman I was excited and interested by the feminist themes in the novel, I had some fist pump moments as Frankie showed us that girls can be masterminds too. It felt cheesy at certain points, and sometimes I questioned if something like this could realistically occur, but it pulled itself off pretty well. Frankie does seem a bit obsessive about wanting to be part of the club, which was strange, but coming from such a gender oppressive environment, I can perhaps she why she is at this level of dedication. I wouldn’t recommend this to a younger teenage girl, but an older teen I think would enjoy this novel. It has a good feminist message that doesn’t advocate women superiority, but instead gender equality. I recommend this book highly.
Content warnings:
-Some underage drinking
-Mild swears
-Some slightly promiscuous scenarios
-Triggers: secret societies, ladies underwear, passionate kissing
My least favorite genre is Realistic fiction, so when I was assigned this book I wasn’t excited to read it, but the story telling style, and the main character Frankie were really interesting and fun. As a woman I was excited and interested by the feminist themes in the novel, I had some fist pump moments as Frankie showed us that girls can be masterminds too. It felt cheesy at certain points, and sometimes I questioned if something like this could realistically occur, but it pulled itself off pretty well. Frankie does seem a bit obsessive about wanting to be part of the club, which was strange, but coming from such a gender oppressive environment, I can perhaps she why she is at this level of dedication. I wouldn’t recommend this to a younger teenage girl, but an older teen I think would enjoy this novel. It has a good feminist message that doesn’t advocate women superiority, but instead gender equality. I recommend this book highly.